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#1 2009-02-14 19:19
- Andrew
- Senior Member
- Registered: 2008-05-22
- Posts: 542
PascalScript font
Denis, does the font used in the PascalScript dialog depend on any system setting? I'm asking because on my system, there's no difference at all between the lowercase letter L ('l') and the digit one ('1'). Can the font be changed?
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#2 2009-02-18 15:25
- den4b
- Administrator
- From: den4b.com
- Registered: 2006-04-06
- Posts: 3,379
Re: PascalScript font
That's an interesting one, I've never noticed it. Current PascalScript font is "Courier New", font size 9. It seems that all sizes below size 10 would cause "l" and "1" to be displayed identically in this font.
I set this font my-self, it is not dependant on any system settings. This is a standard monospace font used by most (if not all) code editing programs. I wouldn't change the actual font, but changing the font size to 10 will actually fix the issue.
Obviously, the code will occupy more space if the font size is increased to 10, so is it important enough that you would sacrifice the compactness of the code? I have just noticed that other editors use font size 9 as well and they too get identical looking "l" and "1", but it doesn't seem to be of concern.
What do you think?
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#3 2009-02-18 18:51
- Andrew
- Senior Member
- Registered: 2008-05-22
- Posts: 542
Re: PascalScript font
Well, this is a bit of a tough call. On one hand, the confusion can be quite pronounced if those two characters are employed extensively in a script (like I faced recently, which is why I posted here). On the other hand, as you said, the code will occupy more space.
Ideally, I would ask if it is possible to have a small drop-down box in the dialog (or in the Settings) to select the font size, with the user-selected value being saved in the INI. If that's too much, then I'd prefer Courier New Size 10. Code readability trumps font size, and in any case, the dialog is resizable and can be expanded to fit the screen, which is sufficient to see all the code.
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#4 2009-02-18 19:15
- report
- Member
- Registered: 2009-01-05
- Posts: 40
Re: PascalScript font
Courier New as the fixed width font is a very good choice. The problem before increasing the font size is the small size of the window showing the Pascal code. Is it not possible to enlarge that code window greatly? Why not, e.g., almost the screen size?
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#5 2009-02-18 19:17
- Andrew
- Senior Member
- Registered: 2008-05-22
- Posts: 542
Re: PascalScript font
I already mentioned the resizability of the PascalScript dialog above... 
That is why I feel increasing the font size from 9 to 10 won't be so bad at all.
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#6 2009-02-19 07:06
- report
- Member
- Registered: 2009-01-05
- Posts: 40
Re: PascalScript font
O... I did not notice...
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#7 2009-02-19 09:31
- krtek
- Senior Member
- From: Łódź (Poland)
- Registered: 2008-02-21
- Posts: 262
Re: PascalScript font
Yeah.
Our eyes would be grateful for the bigger font size.
Regular Expressions are not as hard to understand as you may think. Check ReNamer's manual or nice Regular Expressions tutorial for more info and start to use full power of applications that use them (like ReNamer, Mp3Tag and so on).
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#8 2009-02-20 13:52
- den4b
- Administrator
- From: den4b.com
- Registered: 2006-04-06
- Posts: 3,379
Re: PascalScript font
I was wrong about the current size: it is actually 8 (instead of 9). So the font has to be increased by 2 units, which is even more noticeable. Below are 2 screenshots, with original and modified font sizes.
I was thinking why I noticed this issue myself, and I found out why. I don't use letter "L" by itself for any variables, and if I would - it would be upper case. I would use lower case "L" only in the middle of words, where it cannot be mistaken with number "1". So here is my point, if you follow the Delphi way for case patterns (naming conventions) - you would be just fine with font size "8".
Font size 8 (original):
Font size 10 (modified):
Smaller font size does look a lot neater. What do you guys think?
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#9 2009-02-20 15:45
- krtek
- Senior Member
- From: Łódź (Poland)
- Registered: 2008-02-21
- Posts: 262
Re: PascalScript font
The best option would be to let user choose the font size.
But if it should be fixed size, I would go for the size 10.
I allways go "for my eyes". And I guess it would be really important for people with poor sight.
Regular Expressions are not as hard to understand as you may think. Check ReNamer's manual or nice Regular Expressions tutorial for more info and start to use full power of applications that use them (like ReNamer, Mp3Tag and so on).
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#10 2009-02-20 17:20
- prologician
- Member
- Registered: 2009-01-30
- Posts: 84
Re: PascalScript font
If I had to choose between those two options, I'd go with the size 10. If not for the "it's easier on my eyes" like krtek, then for the uniformity you get with other text editing programs of similar nature (ie, Notepad/Textpad, whose default text sizes are also 10pt). 
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